Device for dispensing material

ABSTRACT

A device for dispensing material comprising a pressurized container assembly, a tilt action valve connected to the container assembly, and a two-piece actuator, including a lower piece and an upper piece, where the upper piece has a discharge nozzle orifice and also a portion to be moved by a user in the single direction of the discharge orifice to open the tilt action valve and discharge the material in the single direction.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.61/362,534, filed Jul. 8, 2010.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to devices for dispensing material,particularly high viscosity material including, but not limited to, oralcare substances such as denture adhesives.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Dispensers that are difficult to operate can be of concern to consumers,particularly those with limited manual dexterity and/or eyesight.Although a product may be excellent, if it is in a dispenser that ishard to operate, a consumer may settle for another product that is in aneasier to operate dispenser.

Many products are dispensed through pressurized containers. One exampleof a pressurized dispensing system is the bag-in-can system. In such asystem, a valve, such as a tilt action valve, is sealed on a can, whichcontains a bag. Inside the bag is the product to be dispensed, andoutside of the bag but within the can is a propellant. The user moves anactuator that is attached to the valve, which causes the valve to open.When the valve opens, the propellant pushes against the bag, forcing theproduct out of the bag and through the valve. A nozzle on top of theactuator may control the spread of the dispensed product. Otherpressurized containers include the bag-on-valve system or apiston-in-can system.

One challenge of these pressurized container systems for consumers canbe the ergonomics of holding the can while pressing the actuator.Certain strength and motor control is required, especially if theproduct needs to be dispensed in a very controlled manner. In addition,many actuators may be manipulated in any direction to open a tilt actionvalve, causing unpredictability as to what direction the product will bedispensed. All of these difficulties are especially acute if the userhas limited vision and/or manual dexterity.

Therefore, there remains a need for dispensing devices, includingpressurized container systems with tilt action valves, that are easy tooperate and that offer controlled dispensing of the product. Thereremains a need for such devices to have actuators that are simple forthe user to manipulate. There remains a need for such devices to be ableto dispense very viscous material, while not requiring strenuous efforton the part of the user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a device for dispensing material,particularly high viscosity material including, but not limited to, oralcare substances such as denture adhesives. The present invention relatesto a device for dispensing material comprising a pressurized containerassembly, a tilt action valve, and a two-piece actuator, including alower piece and an upper piece, where the upper piece has a dischargenozzle orifice and also a portion to be moved by a user in the singledirection of the discharge orifice to open the tilt action valve anddischarge the material in the single direction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying figures show non-limiting embodiments of devices fordispensing material that incorporate various aspects of the presentinvention.

FIGS. 1 and 2 are plan views of devices according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross-section of an embodiment of the device ofthe present invention.

FIG. 4 is an exploded isometric view of an embodiment of the device ofthe present invention.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are side views of one embodiment of the device shown atrest and then while dispensing a material, respectively.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

While the specification concludes with claims that particularly pointout and distinctly claim the invention, it is believed the presentinvention will be better understood from the following description.

Referring to the drawings, FIGS. 1 and 2 show two views of oneembodiment of the device of the present invention. FIG. 3 shows alongitudinal cross-sectional view of one embodiment of the presentinvention. In FIG. 3, the device comprises a can 1, or outer chamber,with a flexible bag 2, or inner chamber, inside the can. Inside the bagis a material to be dispensed (not shown). A valve assembly 3 is crimpedonto the top of the can. A header, or actuator 4, is a molded part ofthe valve assembly that snaps onto the crimped valve assembly. Theactuator has an upper piece 5 complementary to a lower piece 6. Theupper piece has a nozzle 7 that has a discharge orifice 8. The upperpiece also has a portion to be pressed by a user 9. The valve, which maybe a tilt action valve, has a stem 10 protruding upwards from the can.The lower piece of the actuator has a slot 11 through which the upperpiece extends. The upper piece then fits over and communicates with thestem of the valve.

FIG. 4 depicts an exploded isometric view of an embodiment of thedevice. The device comprises a can 1, a valve assembly with a valve stem10, and a two-part actuator with an upper piece 5 and a lower piece 6.The upper piece has a nozzle 7 that has a discharge orifice 8. The upperpiece also has a portion to be pressed by a user 9. The upper piece 5 ofthe actuator fits over and communicates with the stem of the valve 10.The lower piece of the actuator has a slot 11 through which the valvestem 10 protrudes. As can be seen, the valve stem, due to the slot, maymove in only one direction.

The pressurized container assembly may be one of many known in the art.In some embodiments, a bag-in-can aerosol assembly may be used, similarto that known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,393,842, issuedJul. 23, 1968 to Bruce et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 6,196,275, issued Mar.6, 2001 to Yazawa et al. disclose bag-in-can aerosol assemblies of thetype that may be used in the present invention. Another pressurizedcontainer assembly that may be used in the present device is thebag-on-valve assembly, in which the bag containing the material to bedispensed is connected directly on the valve. For example, U.S. Pat. No.7,523,767, issued Apr. 28, 2009 to Pericard offers disclosure andexamples of bag-on-valve assemblies. Other embodiments may comprise apiston can assembly, also known as bag-in-piston or piston-in-canassembly, for example, as disclosed in US 2007/0184010, published Aug.9, 2007. In other embodiments, the pressurized container assembly may bea tube-in-sleeve assembly, for example those disclosed U.S. applicationSer. Nos. 13/085,677 filed Apr. 13, 2011 and 13/092,577 filed Apr. 22,2011. Those with ordinary skill in the art would understand that any ofthese or other pressurized container assemblies may be used in thepresent device.

One type of valve assembly that may be used with pressurized dispensingsystems, such as the bag-in-can assembly, may be a tilt action valve. Ingeneral, the tilt action valve of the present invention may be similarto those known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,824,075, issuedApr. 25, 1989 to Holzboog and U.S. Pat. No. 5,785,301, issued Jul. 28,1998 to Scheindel disclose tilt action valves of the type that may beused in the present invention. Other examples of valves and valvesystems are disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2010/0133301 toChan et al., published on Jun. 3, 2010, along with those disclosed inU.S. Patent Publication No. 2010/0133295 to Chan et al., published onJun. 3, 2010.

Some embodiments may comprise a high delivery rate tilt action valve,which allows for dispensing of high viscosity materials. One of ordinaryskill in the art would be familiar with valves that are considered highdelivery rate valves.

High viscosity materials may include, but are not limited to, dentureadhesives such as those described in U.S. published applications2007/0185233, to Rajaiah et al., published Aug. 9, 2007 and2009/0239972, to Rajaiah et al., published Sep. 24, 2009. In someembodiments, the viscosity of the material to be dispensed by thepresent invention is greater than about 300 Pa-s. In other embodiments,the viscosity may be greater than about 400 Pa-s, greater than about 500Pa-s, or greater than about 600 Pa-s. In some embodiments, the viscositymay be any combination of the range from about 100, 200, 300, 400, 500,or 600 Pa-s to about 400, 500, 600, 1000, 2000, 4000, or 6000 Pa-s. Insome embodiments, the viscosity of the material to be dispensed from thepresent invention may be from about 300 Pa-s to about 6000 Pa-s, inother embodiments from about 300 Pa-s to about 3000 Pa-s, in otherembodiments from about 400 Pa-s to about 2000 Pa-s, and in still otherembodiments from about 500 Pa-s to about 1000 Pa-s. (Viscosities aremeasured by the test method disclosed in US published application2009/0239972).

The present invention also comprises an actuator. The actuator of thepresent invention has two pieces, an upper piece and a lower piece. Onepurpose for the actuator to be two pieces, rather than just one, is torestrict the movement of the tilt action valve to a single direction. Ascan be seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the upper piece 5 fits into the lowerpiece 6 via a slot 11 in the lower piece. When the user moves the upperpiece to dispense the material in the device, the upper piece and thevalve stem move through a predetermined and set path within the slot ofthe lower piece. Given the configuration of the nozzle 7, the materialcontained in the device will be dispensed in the direction that theupper piece is pushed. That is, the material will be dispensed in thedirection of the nozzle orifice on the upper piece of the actuator.

Another advantage of the two-piece actuators of the present invention isthat replacement is possible for just the upper piece. A common problemin dispensing devices is the clogging of the nozzle and actuator ingeneral that can make the remaining material unusable. Should thematerial become clogged, a possible solution may be to replace just theupper piece of the actuator, allowing the lower piece and itsconnections to the rest of the device to remain unaltered.

There are several benefits to limiting the dispersion of the material toa single direction. The single direction of dispersion gives a specificorientation for the user. It is clear to the user how to hold the deviceand how to move the actuator, and it is also easy for the user tocontrol and direct the material being dispensed. The present inventioncan require less strength and/or motor control than a device thatdispenses in numerous directions. Additionally, a user of the presentinvention may dispense material while easily viewing the area that it isbeing dispensed into. In some embodiments, the angle between the can andeither the length of the nozzle or the direction of the dispensedmaterial may be small, from about 10 degrees to about 90 degrees, insome embodiments from about 30 degrees to about 70 degrees, furtheraiding visibility and control for the user. A user may also hold thedevice and dispense the material easily with just one hand. This may beespecially useful if the material to be dispensed, for example, is adenture adhesive, whereby the user could hold the denture in one handand apply the denture adhesive onto the denture with the present device.Also, the small angle created between the length of the can and eitherthe length of the nozzle or the direction of the dispensed materialallows a user to dispense the material in a downward direction withouttilting the can very much or not at all.

The present invention, as it relates to dispensing a denture adhesive,and more particularly a high-viscosity denture adhesive, is especiallyadvantageous. Denture adhesives have typically been contained in tubesand dispensed by the user simply squeezing the tube. But such dentureadhesives are known to have difficulties such as oozing and erosion.Some newer formulas for denture adhesives have higher viscosities,offering consumers the benefits of minimizing the oozing and/or erosiondifficulties. But these higher viscosity denture adhesives could bedifficult to dispense from a tube, meaning they necessitate newdispensing solutions. The present invention offers not only a solutionto the increased force required to dispense a higher viscosity materialfrom a container, but also provides benefits critical to the needs ofdenture adhesive users. For example, the advantages of the restrictionof movement to a single direction or a limited range of directions, thesmall angle between the can and the dispensed material that aidsvisibility, and the one-handed operation all allow dispensing with lessstrength and/or motor coordination. The combined benefits of thetwo-piece actuator of the present devices provides intuitiveness andhelps to overcome limited dexterity and eyesight.

Other advantages of the present invention include that the portion ofthe upper piece to be moved by the user, that is, the actuator button,may be off-center. The button may also be relatively large, having asurface area of any combination in the range of about 1.0, 1.5, 2.0,2.5, 3.0, 3.5, or 4.0 square centimeters to about 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5,4.0, 4.5, or 5.0 square centimeters. The large surface area may make iteasier for a user to move the actuator button because the user may use afinger or a thumb, or even multiple fingers and/or thumb to move theactuator button.

The nozzle portion of the upper piece of the actuator comprises adischarge nozzle orifice. In some embodiments, the nozzle length, shape,and profile are designed to allow the material to be dispensed in narrowcrevices. The nozzle length and shape of the nozzle may also contributeto good visibility of the nozzle tip as the user dispenses the material.In general, the entire two-piece actuator may have an outer surface thatdecreases in cross-section from the lower piece toward the dischargenozzle orifice.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show two plan views of a particular embodiment of thepresent invention. Both figures show a can 1 and a two-part actuatormechanism, comprising a lower piece 5 and an upper piece 6. Theparticular embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, and some embodiments in general,may comprise a cap or cover 12 for the device. As shown in FIGS. 1 and2, the cover may fit over the two-piece actuator. The cover may attachto the can. In some embodiments, the cover may be intimate with thenozzle tip to reduce the risk of the tip becoming blocked duringstorage. The cover may also ensure that the valve is held firmly in theoff, or non-dispensing, position.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show one particular embodiment of the dispensing device atrest and then as it is dispensing a material, respectively. Morespecifically, the two figures show two positions that the upper piece ofthe actuator 5 may be in. The direction that the upper piece moves fromFIG. 5 to FIG. 6 is the sole direction that the upper piece may move,due to the configuration of the actuator, that is, due to the limitedmotion of the upper piece relative to the lower piece. In thisembodiment, to dispense the material contained in the can 1, the upperpiece is moved by the user pressing a portion 9 of the upper piece, andthe material is dispensed from the discharge nozzle orifice 8 in thedirection that the actuator is moved by the user.

As seen in FIGS. 5 and 6, the two-piece actuator mechanism has alongitudinal axis 14 along the length of the lower and upper pieces.When the actuator is connected to a pressurized container assembly, thelongitudinal axis 14 can be understood to run along the length of thecontainer. The upper piece of the actuator 5, when moved by the user,may be pivotable about a single axis that is perpendicular to thelongitudinal axis. The pivot motion may be seen in FIGS. 5 and 6, whichshows one embodiment of before and after motion for the upper piece.Therefore, in some embodiments, the upper piece may pivot about only oneaxis, resulting in a single available motion for the upper piece, thenozzle, and consequently, the dispensed material. Thus, the materialwill be dispensed in an expected and controllable location.

As can be seen in FIG. 4, the upper piece may have an extending portion13 that fits into the slot 11 of the lower piece 6. The stem 10 of atilt action valve 3 may protrude through the slot of the lower piece inthe opposite direction from the upper piece extending portion and fitinside the upper piece extending portion. Because the slot restricts themotion possible for the valve stem and consequently the upper piece, theupper piece may pivot in a single direction. As the upper piece pivots,that is, as there is relative motion between the upper and lower pieces,the valve is opened, allowing the material to dispense from thecontainer 1 having an inner chamber with the material to be dispensedtherein and an outer chamber with propellant therein. The material maybe dispensed through the valve and out the discharge nozzle 7.

While restriction of the upper piece to movement in a single directionaids in the simplicity and ease of use for the present invention, someembodiments of the present invention may be able to dispense a materialin a slightly wider zone. In some embodiments, the entire actuator maybe pivotable about the longitudinal axis within a sector subtending 90degrees. Within this 90 degrees, the upper piece may be pivotable aboutany axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis. In effect, this allowsthe user to dispense the material within a sector of 90 degrees. Thus,the user still has the ease and predictability of a restricted directionfor the dispensed material, but there is a greater range.

The dimensions and values disclosed herein are not to be understood asbeing strictly limited to the exact numerical values recited. Instead,unless otherwise specified, each such dimension is intended to mean boththe recited value and a functionally equivalent range surrounding thatvalue. For example, a dimension disclosed as “40 mm” is intended to mean“about 40 mm.”

All documents cited in the Detailed Description of the Invention are, inrelevant part, incorporated herein by reference; the citation of anydocument is not to be construed as an admission that it is prior artwith respect to the present invention. To the extent that any meaning ordefinition of a term in this written document conflicts with any meaningor definition of the term in a document incorporated by reference, themeaning or definition assigned to the term in this written documentshall govern.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have beenillustrated and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in theart that various changes and modifications may be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention. It is to be understood thatthe scope of the claims is not limited to the specific components,methods, conditions, devices, or parameters described herein, and thatthe terminology used herein is not intended to be limiting of theclaimed invention. It is therefore intended to cover in the appendedclaims all such changes and modifications that are within the scope ofthe invention.

1. A device for dispensing material, said device comprising: (a) apressurized container assembly; (b) a tilt action valve connected tosaid container assembly; and (c) a two-piece actuator mechanism,including a lower piece and an upper piece, said upper piece with adischarge nozzle orifice, said upper piece having a portion to be movedby a user in a single direction of said discharge orifice to open saidtilt action valve and discharge material in said direction.
 2. Thedevice of claim 1, wherein said tilt action valve has a stem and whereinsaid lower piece of said actuator has a slot through which said upperpiece extends to communicate with said tilt action valve stem.
 3. Thedevice of claim 1, wherein the pressurized container assembly is abag-in-can aerosol assembly.
 4. The device of claim 1, wherein theportion of the upper piece to be moved by a user has a surface area fromabout 2.0 square centimeters to about 4.0 square centimeters.
 5. Thedevice of claim 1, wherein the viscosity of said material is from about300 Pa-s to about 3000 Pa-s.
 6. The device of claim 1, wherein saidmaterial is a denture adhesive.
 7. The device of claim 1, wherein theangle between the length of the pressurized container assembly and thedirection of the discharged material is from about 10 degrees to about90 degrees.
 8. The device of claim 1, wherein the user may dispense thematerial by using one hand.
 9. The device of claim 1, further comprisinga cover about said two-piece actuator.
 10. The device of claim 1,wherein said tilt action valve has a high delivery rate.
 11. The deviceof claim 1, wherein said two-piece actuator has an outer surface whichdecreases in cross section from said lower piece toward said dischargenozzle orifice.
 12. The device of claim 1, wherein said material isdispensed only in the direction that said upper piece portion is moved.13. A two-piece actuator mechanism having a longitudinal axis, includinga lower piece complementary to an upper piece, said upper piece beingpivotable about a single axis perpendicular to said longitudinal axis.14. The actuator of claim 13, wherein said upper piece has an extendingportion that fits into a slot in said lower piece.
 15. The actuator ofclaim 14, wherein a stem of a tilt action valve protrudes through theslot of the lower piece in the opposite direction from the upper pieceextending portion and fits inside the upper piece extending portion,wherein the pivoting of the upper piece opens the valve, allowing amaterial to dispense through the valve.
 16. The actuator of claim 15,wherein the valve is connected to a container having an inner chamberwith the material to be dispensed therein and an outer chamber withpropellant therein.
 17. The actuator of claim 15, wherein the materialto be dispensed is a denture adhesive.
 18. A two-piece actuatormechanism having a longitudinal axis, including a lower piececomplementary to an upper piece, said lower piece having a slot throughwhich said upper piece extends to communicate with a stem of a tiltaction valve, said actuator being pivotable about said longitudinal axiswithin a sector subtending 90 degrees.
 19. The actuator of claim 18,wherein said upper piece is pivotable about axes perpendicular to saidlongitudinal axis.
 20. The actuator of claim 19, wherein the relativemotion between said upper and lower pieces opens the valve, allowing amaterial to flow through the valve.